Encouraging, Equipping, and Engaging Ideas from Local Church Leaders

Main menu

4 Ways to Invest in People

People Need You

The
ministry, by definition, is about people. While it is true that we oftentimes
(of necessity) get encumbered with details of work and administrative tasks,
ultimately, the ministry is about people. There have been times in my ministry
where I have gotten tired of people. That’s both horrible and hilarious at the
same time. Horrible because the ministry is about people, and hilarious
because…well, the ministry is about people. In recent years, God has used the
book of First Thessalonians to teach me about the important work of investing
in the people to whom God has sent me to minister. Even a casual reading of First
Thessalonians reveals a very special relationship between the Apostle Paul and
his beloved converts in Thessalonica. The key verse is 1 Thessalonians 2:8
which says, “…we were willing to have
imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls…”

It
is possible to win people to Christ without really investing much into them. I
know because I have done it! God has convicted me at times that although I was
succeeding in imparting the Gospel of God, I was failing to impart my own soul.
In First Thessalonians chapter two, God gives us a pattern for investing in the
lives of people.

1. Investment through Empathy

“But we were gentle among you, even as a
nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were
willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own
souls, because ye were dear unto us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:7–8

This
is where it all has to start. It may sound trite, but people don’t care how
much you know until they know how much you care. The world is filled with
hurting people, and people who truly care are few and far between. I think of a
man I led to Christ years ago whose kidneys were failing. His wife had moved to
America to make money for his dialysis, but he hadn’t heard from her in a
couple of years. He suspected she may have decided it was too much trouble and
decided to move on with life. I think of a woman our church reached who had a
drunk for a husband and a drunk for a son. She never knew from night to night
which one would beat her.

If
we want to invest in people, we must learn to empathize, and it must be
genuine. Notice four very special words that Paul used:

Gentle—mild; meek; soft

Cherish—to treat with tenderness and affection; to give warmth,
ease, or comfort to

Affectionate—having great love or affection; fond

Dear—of a high value in estimation; greatly valued; beloved;
precious

Isn’t
that something? These are terms we would typically use for our spouse or our
children, but Paul used all four of these words to describe his attitude
towards the people he was trying to reach. We must guard against living an
insulated life where we want to minister to people on Sunday morning, but don’t
really lose much sleep over their trials the rest of the week. It seems as if
this danger increases the longer we are saved because of the ever-increasing
distance between our own lives and the baggage that a lost person or a young
Christian often carries. Perhaps this is why oftentimes the best “empathizers”
are new Christians. It wasn’t that long ago that they were in the same
boat.

May
God help us to never lose the ability to feel someone else’s hurt deeply and to
help bear their burden as if it were our own. If we desire to reach people, we
must take the time to empathize with their struggles and burdens. If we desire
to impact their lives, we must first let their lives impact us. If we would
touch lives, we must invest through empathy.

2. Investment through Evangelism

“For ye remember, brethren, our labour and
travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto
any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:9

Sadly,
there are Christian missionaries who empathize with people and truly desire to
help them, but never tell them about the Lord. Empathy and evangelism are
inextricably intertwined. Empathy without evangelism is pointless, and
evangelism without empathy is ineffective. To put it more bluntly: to pity a
person without introducing them to Jesus is ultimately not very helpful. On the
other hand, to try to introduce a person to Christ without showing some care,
concern, and compassion will quickly become an effort in futility.

Many
times before a person gets saved, they don’t understand that empathy and
evangelism are linked. Oftentimes they want your empathy but not
your evangelism. And that is probably why all of the words Paul used to
describe evangelism are associated with hard work.

Labor—bodily or intellectual exertion
which occasions weariness

Travail—labor with pain; severe toil

Night and day—without end

Real
and true investment in people will not only start with investment through
empathy, but it will quickly turn to investment through evangelism.

3. Investment through Example

“Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily
and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:” 1 Thessalonians
2:10

People
are watching us. Sometimes we are aware of it, and sometimes we aren’t. But
they are watching. Our flesh will say, “Hey, I have a right to watch TV, listen
to music, or have a private conversation without everybody examining my every
move.” Much is made about the proverbial glass house in which preachers live. And
yet, that is a part of investing in people. God does indeed hold his
under-shepherds to a higher standard of living, precisely because we are leaders of God’s flock.

Notice
again a few words associated with being a good example:

Holily—piously; with sanctity

Justly—honestly; fairly; with integrity

Unblameably—in such a manner as to incur
no blame

As
we learn to walk in the Spirit, and deny the flesh, our influence on people
will increase as we invest in them through example.

4. Investment through Encouragement

“As ye know how we exhorted and comforted
and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,” 1
Thessalonians 2:10

Sam
Walton said, “Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen,
well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free—and worth a
fortune.” But a couple of thousand years before he said that, the Apostle Paul
knew that encouraging words were a powerful way to invest in a person’s
spiritual growth and development. He used the simile of a father encouraging
his children. A father will comfort, challenge, or confront his children
depending on the need, but every word has one purpose—to encourage growth and
maturity.

Notice
a few words that come up in this discussion of investment through
encouragement:

Exhorted—to incite by words or advice

Comforted—to
strengthen; to invigorate; to cheer or enliven

Charged—to give directions to; to instruct
authoritatively

To
bring out a person’s full potential, we must learn to invest through
encouragement.

I don’t want to impart the
Gospel of God only. I want to impart my own soul. May God help us to be
Spirit-filled servants who seek to invest in people through empathy,
evangelism, example, and encouragement.

If this article was a help to you, consider sharing it with your friends.